"My grandmother might not even know what 'reversal of time' is."
"Reversal of time means connecting something from a different time and space to a bead. The bead acts as a carrier, and the space within stores the world where its owner lived back then."
"I've lived for over two thousand years. The elder tree spirits I heard from said that the world wasn't like this when they were born. There were many powerful beings, and a ruler who, in pursuit of eternal life, gathered all the great powers of that era to forge a secret defense for him."
"However, the ruler died before he could obtain the artifact. Who it ended up with later is unknown."
"The last time I saw you, I noticed it. I thought you knew."
In the past, An Nuan would never have believed such an absurd story.
But now, anything seemed possible.
Xiu Ao's talismans could rival cannons, so the appearance of a few magical artifacts wasn't surprising.
Fu Yunting asked, "Were those powerful beings also ability users?"
Uncle An wasn't sure. "I heard it from the tree spirits when I was young. But I did see many people with abilities back then. Some were called immortals, others demons. Several times, large-scale massacres occurred because of them."
Uncle An, a tree who had seen much of the world, still felt lingering fear recalling those past massacres.
An Nuan's inner turmoil was even greater than Uncle An's.
She never expected the bead to have such a profound origin.
This also explained why she could be reborn.
The ruler of that era had gathered the collective power of the world's great beings solely for eternal life.
To live again after death, one needed money and resources. Hence, a storage space was created, and finally, land.
To ensure his rule and prevent future upheavals, he needed vast territories and an environment capable of sustaining life.
It was a logical chain of events.
It was just that such a tremendous benefit fell into An Nuan's lap after thousands of years.
She touched the bead, secretly pleased.
Fu Yunting thought of her family's genealogy records. "Take out that blank genealogy book and show it to Uncle An. Perhaps there's something there."
Upon hearing this, An Nuan quickly retrieved it.
Uncle An sniffed the genealogy book with his branches. "Mmm, a familiar scent. It's old wood."
An Nuan thought: Is there any wood older than you? How dare you call something else old?
Uncle An squeezed a drop of water from his branches and dripped it onto the genealogy book.
Words immediately appeared.
An Nuan was surprised. "It clearly showed nothing before!"
"The item is too old. Later, let Shasha give you some honey dew. Dilute it with spring water back there and brush it on. You should be able to see it then."
Antique items were so troublesome...
Shasha already had more than half of its honey dew stored in its sac. It generously gave An Nuan 1000L.
An Nuan hugged the honey dew and said, "I have the honey dew, but where can I get spring water? Can mineral water work?"
"Although the old wood is no longer present, the paper was made from its branches. Spring water works better and won't damage it. Of course, if you want to take a gamble, I don't mind."
Even though the genealogy book was of no practical use, it was still something left by her grandmother. An Nuan wanted to keep it as a memento, so she hoped to preserve it well.
She pondered about spring water and decided she might have to go to the mountains to ask Huang Xiaoting.
"Let's go. If we leave now, we can be back tonight."
Fu Yunting drove towards Huang Xiaoting's base.
Before, it was always Liu Jiang who handled deliveries, and An Nuan had never been there herself.
Upon entering the base for the first time, everyone on the mountain came out to welcome them.
An Nuan did a rough headcount: over ten thousand people!
Huang Xiaoting, wearing rubber boots, ran out from the fields with a smile. She took off her gloves and said, "Why didn't you send someone to notify me when you were coming? I could have prepared a proper welcome for you!"
"I suddenly need your help with something. What are you...?"
"I just came back from the fields. We've opened up a new paddy field, and it's growing well! You know, the seeds sent by Tu Ling are really cold and drought-resistant. They're amazing!"
Huang Xiaoting immediately led them to meet her father.
Huang Ting had rushed back from the other side of the mountain when he heard the news.
He had just finished inspecting the mushroom cultivation base and was slightly better off than Huang Xiaoting, but still looked like a farmer, not at all like the boss of the base.
An Nuan found their appearance comforting.
An Nuan extended her hand. "It's our first meeting. I'm An Nuan, and this is my husband, Fu Yunting."
"President Nuan, Young Master Fu, it's an honor. I've heard so much about you. I was busy clearing out the riff-raff in the base and setting up new breeding grounds, so I didn't have time to visit. I should have come earlier!"
"Let's skip the formalities. We're here to ask if you know of any nearby spring water?"
"Spring water?"
There were plenty of streams and rivers on the mountain. The ecosystem had stabilized a bit recently, and even the waterfalls had started flowing.
But they hadn't seen any spring water.
Huang Xiaoting thought for a moment and pulled her father. "There's a place that should have spring water, behind the mountain!"
"That's right! The people at that base drink spring water. How could I forget! But..."
Huang Ting said hesitantly, "That person, Lao Niao, is very eccentric, and his subordinates are strange too. They refuse strangers. Going to his territory might be problematic."
An Nuan didn't pay it much mind.
She just needed a small bottle of spring water to dilute some honey dew, not to cut off their water supply.
Surely he wouldn't be that stingy.
Huang Xiaoting volunteered, "Why don't I take you? I've dealt with him a couple of times before, so he might be more amenable."
Huang Ting called for Liu Jiang and another assistant.
"This is Xiao Tao. You haven't met him before. He's not an ability user, but he grew up in the mountains and is very familiar with this area."
Wang Xiaotao seemed a little shy meeting An Nuan and Fu Yunting.
As he wasn't an ability user, he felt a bit inferior in front of them.
But An Nuan didn't look down on him.
"Hello, thank you for leading the way."
"It's no trouble. I know a road we can drive on for a while, but we'll have to hike the rest of the way up the mountain. It might be a bit tough."
"That's fine. Shall we head out now?"
Wang Xiaotao immediately set off, driving an off-road vehicle to the mountainside, then hiking up from there.
The mountain path was difficult, especially for An Nuan, who grew up in the city.
Some sections weren't roads at all, just narrow trails.
Wang Xiaotao used a sickle to clear branches ahead. Seeing him struggle, An Nuan handed him her laser knife.
Wang Xiaotao exclaimed, "What is this thing made of? It cuts through metal like butter!"
"I'm not too sure about this. I'll ask around for you another day. How much further do we have?"
Wang Xiaotao estimated, "About three more hours."
Three hours...
An Nuan despaired. After walking for three hours, wouldn't her feet be ruined?
She'd eat her hat!
Fu Yunting also didn't want to endure the hardship. "Xiao Yu, let's fly."